Chapter 17 Vocabulary

change over time; the process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms

• evolution

• artificial selection

• adaptation

• natural selection

heritable characteristic that increases an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in an environment

• evolution

• fitness

• natural selection

• adaptation

how well an organism can survive and reproduce in its environment

• adaptation

• evolution

• fitness

• natural selection

process by which organisms that are most suited to their environment survive and reproduce most successfully

• natural selection

• fossilization

• adaptation

• evolution

selective breeding of plants and animals to promote the occurrence of desirable traits in offspring

• natural selection

• artificial selection

• evolution

• adaptation

preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms

• rocks

• prehistoric relics

• fossils

• mummies

studied and presented findings on natural selection from research in the Galapagos Islands

• Charles Lamark

• Charles Darwin

• Charles Dickens

• Charlie Daniels

study of past and present distribution of organisms

• palentology

• biogeography

• biology

• ornithology

structure that is similar in different species of common ancestry

• analogous structure

• vestigial structure

• homologous structure

• adaptation

structure that is inherited from ancestors but has lost much or all of its original function

• analogous structure

• vestigial structure

• homologous structure

• adaptation